Score-board.



L. M. GRIFFITH & F. A. GARBUTT.

SCORE BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 5. 1913.

1,171,715. Patented Feb. 15,1916.

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SCOREBOARD. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 5, 1913.

SCORE BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 5. I913. r 1,171,715. Patented Feb. 10,1916. 3 SHEETS$HEET 3- W a Z P fi i i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEIGH M. GRIFFITH AND FRANK A. GARIBUTT, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SCORE-BOARD.

. Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 15, 1916.

Application filed November 5, 1913. Serial No. 799,414.

taken place at a distance and from which reports have been received by telegraph .or otherwise.

The principal object of our invention is to provide such a board upon which the position of all the players may be indicated by suitable units at all times and upon which the position of these units may be changed at will and the actual movement of the units being directly visible to the spectator.

A further object is to provide such a board upon which the position of the ball will be illustrated by a suitable unit at all times and upon which it will be possible to show the movement of this unit.

A further object is to provide means for indicating to which of the contesting, teams any particular unit belongs.

A further object is to provide means whereby the greatest flexibility of illustration will be provided and upon which nearly all plays common to the game of baseball may be clearly illustrated.

Further objects and advantages will appear hereinafter.

Referring to the drawings which are for illustrative purposes only: Figure 1 is a front view of such a score board. Fig. 2 13 a rear View showing the various playing units in position. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a player unit. Fig. A is a section through such a player unit. Fig. 5 is a front view of a ball unit, Fig. 6 is a front view of the bat and its operating mechanism. Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the parts shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is adiagram of connections. Flg. 9jis an alternative form of the player unit. Fig. 10 is a cross section through that unit.

The fundamental principle upon which this board works is as follows: A sheet of translucent glass 1 is placed in an opaque frame 2, this glass having an outline of a baseball diamond marked on its face and being covered with some liquid, such as glycerin, upon its back. A series of player units'3 and a ball unit 4 are fastened on the rear side of the glass 1 by means of vacuum. cups 5. The vacuum cups 5 serve to attach the players and the ball to the glass in any position, the action of the vacuum cups being assisted by the glycerin which also serves as a lubricating means making it possible to move the players without exerting undue force. The player units 3 and the ball unit 4 are internally illuminated, the lights shining through openings 6, 7 and 8 which are immediately in contact with the glass 1 when the units are secured to the glass. This results in an illuminated spot upon the glass 1 which is plainly visible from the front of the board and which moves from place to place as the ball and player units ;are manipulated manually from the back.

In the embodiment of our invention illustrated in the drawings the glass 1 is supported inthe frame 2 and this frame has a series of openings 10 in which the score by innings may be kept, and a pair of openings 11 in which the name of the contesting teams may be placed, red lights 12 and green lights 13, which indicate the colors used to designate the. respective teams, a series of openings 14 in which the names of the various players may be displayed, a series of openings 15 in which the names of the umpires may be displayed, and a pair of openings 16 in which the name of the man at bat may be shown, the method of displaying such names or numbers being common in the art of constructing such score board and consisting of providing an opening in the board and inserting a let vided for the man at bat, and these open-- ings may be used either to indicate the fact that the batter is right or left handed or the team to which he belongs.

On the front side of the'glass l is painted in black a baseball diamond 20 having bases 21, 22, 23, and 24, and base and foul' lines as clearly indicated in Fig. 1. Close to the front of the board on either side of the home base 24 are located two standards 25 which have a pin 26 projecting inwardly therefrom upon which are located the bats 27, these bats being between the standards 25 and the face of the board. A rod 28 is pivoted to an extension 29 on the bat 27 and extends downwardly and carries a. pin 30 which has a spring 31 attached thereto, the other end of the spring 31 being fastened in an eye 32 screwed to a frame 33 of the score board. The bat 27 may be rotated about the pin 26 by pressing downward upon the pin30 against the action of the spring 31, thus throwing the bat 27 in view directly over the home base 24. Either of the bats may be operated at will for the purpose of indicating a right or left handed player.

The player 3 are illustrated in Figs.v

3 and 4, consisting of a case 35 having a series of ventilated. openings in the back and a pair of ventilated openings 37 in the top. The slots 6 and 7 are provided in a front 38 which is covered with a sheet of soft felt 39. The opening 6 has a sheet of green glass, and the opening 7 has a sheet of red glass behind it. A partition 40 divides the interior of the player unit 3into two compartments, one of these having the opening 6 and the other the opening 7 in the front. Incandescent lamps 41 in sockets 42 are placed in each of these compartments and serve to illuminate the slots 6 and 7, one of these slots being ordinarily illuminated at one time producing a red or green slot as the operator desires. A pair of brackets 43 are secured to the top of the player unit 3 and carry a pair of soft rubber vacuum cups 44 by means of which the player unit is fastened to the glass 1, this glass being normally thickly coated with glycerin or a similar liquid 45. A connection cable 46 enters the player unit 3 and serves to furnish current to the lamps, any suitable form of switch 47 being also incorporated therein for purposes to be described. The ball unit 4 is similar to the player unit 3 having vacuum cups 5 as illustrated in Fig. 5 but having only a single lamp therein and having a circular hole 48 therein through which this light shines. This hole 48 may be covered wlth yellow .glass, or any distinctive color may be used therein. It is evident that as the ball unit and the player units are attached to the back ,of the glass that brightly illuminated spots may appear on the front of the glass due to the light shining through the openings 6, 7, or 8.

The diagram of connections shown in Fig. 8 illustrates the electrical connections of the board. In this diagram 50 and 51 are wires connected to some source of elec trical supply. An interrupter 52 is provided which may be either coil actuated. or motor driven and which serves to supply current intermittently to a wire 53. The

wire 51 is connected to a switch 54 through which it may be connected to either of wires 55 or 56 as the operator may desire.

Nine player unitsare used to represent the team in the field, these player'units being represented diagrammatically by lamps 57 and 58, there being nine of these lamps each connected to the wires 50, 55, and 56. Four base runners are provided, one of these base runners being indicated diagrammatically by lamps 59 and 60. A wire 61 from a com: mon connection of these lamps connects to a switch 62 which is adapted to connect the center pin of these lamps to a wire 63 or 64. The wires from the lamps 57 and 58 may be designated as 65, 66, and 67. The switch 62 may be of any convenient form such as that illustrated at 47 in Fig. 4. Wires 68 and 69 extend from the outer terminals of the lamps 59 and '60. The ball is represented diagrammatically by a lamp 70 which has one terminal connected to a wire 71 which is connected to the wire 51. The other terminal 72 of the lamp is connected to the center of a switch 73 which is adapted to connect the terminal 72 to either a wire 74 or 75. The lamps 12 and 13 are connected by means of wires 76 and 77 to the wires 50 and 51 through a switch 78. The wires 50 and 51 extend downwardly, the wire51 being connected to one terminal of the lamps 17, 18,

and. 19, and the wire 50 being connected to a series of switches 79, 80, and 81 by means of which. these lamps may be severally thrown in circuit.

The method of operation of our. invention is as follows: The nine player units, one of these units being represented in the diagram by the lamps 57 and 58,,are placed in the back of the board, out-fielder unit being indicated at 82, short stop at 83, base men at 84, the pitcher at 85, and the catcher at 86. The ball unit 4 is placed directly be hind a painted. rectangle 87 which represents the pitchers box. A player unit 88 "representing the batter is also moved into place on the back of the board. This batter unit 88 is represented in the diagram by the lamps 59 and and has the switch 62 thereon. The ball unit 4 is represented in the diagram by the lamp 7 0; The switch 54 is thrown in contact with the wire 64 and the switch 7 3 is thrown into contact with the wire 74. Switches 79, 80, and 81 are left in their open position. It will be noted with the connections in this order that the lamps 57, 59, and 70 are illuminated through their respective wires, the lamp 57 .being green, the lamp 59 being red, and the lamp 70 being yellow. The lamps 12 and 13 are also illuminated when the switch 78 is closed, the lamps 12 being red and the lamps 13 being green. There will of course be nine of the green lamps and the player units 82, 83, 84, 85, and 86 will be represented by illuminated green spots upon the face of the board. The batter unit 88 will be represented by the lamp 59 which will show red on the face of the board. Additional runner units are provided so that the position of men on the bases can be readily. indicated. When the team represented by the green lights is retired the switch 54 is thrown over into con nection with the wire 55 and the lamps 57 and 59 are disconnected, and the lamps 58 and 60 are connected in circuit, the lamp 558 being red and the lamp 60 being green.

This changes the color of the player units 82, 83, 84:, 85, and 86 and indicates that the other side has gone in the field, the batter unit 88 also being anged in color to green. The switch 54: being in its first position con nected to the wire 56, the units 82, 83, 84,

85, and 86 being green and the batter 88 being red, the operator moves the ball unit 4 from the pitchers box 87 to the catcher 86. Should the batter strike at the ball the operator presses downwardly upon the pin 30 -and causes the bat 27 to fly up across the home base 24:. At the same time by depressing the switches 79 and 80 he registers a ball or a strike against the batter providing he does not hit the ball fairly. Should the batter 88 hit the ball fairly the operator moves the ball 1 into the position that the ball would take. Should the ball be caught by any of the opposing players it is moved up proximately to that player. Should the player fail to catch it for any reason the switch 73 is moved connecting the wire 72 with the wire 75 which is connected with the wire 53 which supplies an intermittent current to the lamp 70 causing it to flicker rapidly. Simultaneously with such a movement of the ball the batter 88 is moved downwardly toward the first base 21, the

- switch 62 being moved over to connect with the wire 63 thus supplying an intermittent current to the lamp 59 and causing it toflicker.- This flickering of the lamp which represents the runner produces the illusion of movement. 'A flickering lamp moved slowly producing an impression of rapid movement. Some operators prefer to manipulate the ball switch 75 in the same mannerusing the flickering of the light to indicate a movement of the ball rather than an error on the part of the opposing pla er. Should the batter 88 reach first base 21 tached therefrom, and a thin film of safely the unit 3 representing the player 88 is left in position near first base and may be moved off the base representing the natural movement of the player in the real game. It is possible to represent a movement of the ball 1 to any of the base men 84:, to the catcher 86, or in fact to any position on the-diamond by an actual movement of the spot of light 1 representing that ball.

I In the modification of the player unit shown in Figs. 9 and 10, 90 is a case provided with a cover 91 in which there is a slot 92. Behind this slot and inside the case is a slide 93 composed of two colors of glass, such as red and green, and provided with an operating pin 94 sliding in a. slot 95 in the bottom of the case 90. The slide 93 may be moved back and forth by means of the pin 94: so that either red or green glass may be placed behind the slot 92. Inside the case is a lamp 96 mounted in a socket 97 furnished with current from a storage battery 98 through a switch 99. A pair. of vacuum cups 100 held in standards 101 are provided on the top of the unit for the purpose of se curing it tothe glass. This unit may be used independently of any wiring, the slides being shifted to'indicate which side is at bat or in the field. The switch 99 is used and supported on the back of said glass member in such a manner that the units can be freely slid from place to place on .said glass member without being detached therefrom.

2. In a score board, a vertical glass member, opaque markings on said glass member representing the markings of a base ball field, illuminated units behind said glass member representingthe players and ball, and vacuum means whereby said units can be secured and supported on the back of said glass member in such a manner that the units canbe freely slid from place to place on said glass-member without being detached therefrom.

3. In a score board, a vertical glass member, opaque markings on said glass member representing field, illuminated units behind said glam member representing the players and ball, vacuum means whereby said units can be secured and supported on the back of. said glass member in such a manner that the units can be freely slid from place to place on said glass member without being bdethe markings of a base ball eating material over the back surface of said set our hands at Los glass member said film serving to reduce the this 25th day of Octob friction as the units are slid from place and also serving to prevent the vacuum from being broken in said vacuum means due to leakage between said vacuum means and said glass member.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto In presence of Angeles, California, er, 1913.

LEIGH M. GRIFFITH. FRANK A. GARBUTT.

FRED A. MANSFIELD, LoUIs W. GRATZ. 

